NEW YORK -- When Thandie Newton trained her alluring smile on Tom Cruise in "Mission Impossible 2," I asked myself: "What's happening here?" For two hours, Ms. Newton, a gorgeous black actress, has both the villain of the movie and its world-famous movie star wrapped around her finger. In a movie that came out about two years ago, Ms. Newton played the role of the maid of an Italian composer who was so obsessed with her that he sold all his furniture, artwork and finally his piano to raise the money to satisfy her one wish.

Washington. -- Later this month, New York City Police Officer Peter Del Debbio is scheduled to face criminal charges filed by fellow officer Desmond Robinson in 1994.That was when Mr. Del Debbio, off-duty and on his way home to Long Island, shot Mr. Robinson, who was undercover and in pursuit with his gun drawn of a suspected pickpocket. Forensic accounts suggest that Mr. Del Debbio stood over Mr. Robinson as he lay on a subway platform and shot him at least four times in the back. A fifth slug was lodged in Mr. Robinson's waist pouch.

Residents will see a familiar face at the next Town Council meeting.After a two-year absence, Selby M. Black will rejoin the council,filling the seat vacated when Perry L. Jones Jr. was elected mayor."

CHICAGO -- Conrad Black, the former press magnate who built Hollinger International Inc. into the world's third-largest publisher of English-language newspapers, was charged yesterday with helping steal $51.8 million from the company. The 61-year-old former chairman and chief executive officer of Hollinger International and three former company executives were accused of wire fraud and mail fraud in an 11-count indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Black, who has been a British lord since 2001.

Because amendments to the Voting Rights Act and court rulings suggest that states that can create new congressional districts with a majority of minority voters should do so, there is pressure in Maryland and elsewhere to search for ways to accomplish it. Here it would be the Fifth District, largely Prince George's County, that would be recontoured to elect a black candidate. In its present boundaries, the Fifth is about 44 percent black.The Maryland Republican Party has produced a redistricting map in which the Fifth would be 56 percent black.

FOR YEARS now, the same regrettable scene has played itself out repeatedly all over the country.A young black man is beaten or killed by the police -- usually after having committed a crime -- and a large group of black people march on city hall or police headquarters, demanding justice.Consider Ernest Sayon, who died in police custody on April 29 after he had been arrested at the scene of a drug deal in a public housing project on Staten Island, N.Y.Or the scuffle in January at a Harlem mosque.